Lngerie clasp



F. W. AVES.

LINGERIE CLASP.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2, 1920 1,412,13 mum Apr-111 1922.

"j a m .Psi'li art a FRANK 'W. AVEE, O33 CHICAGQ, ILLINOIS.

LINGERIE CLASP Specification of Letters Patent.

iPaiitented Apr. lift, 15;) 2.

To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that l, FRANK W. Avns, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago. in the county of Cool: and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lingerie lasps, of which the following is a full, clear. and exact specification.

This invention relates to improvements 1n lingerie clasps in which there'is a spring tongue interposed between the opposing jaws heretofore formed of a separate piece and soldered to one or both of the jaws, and between which and the upper outer jaw the lingerie clasps are confined and clamped, the tongue being narrower than the opposing jaws and necessarily provided. adjacent its free end, with recesses in its side edges, opposed by a slotted stop for preventing an otherwise lateral movement of the tongue and confining it in its operative position between the jaws. the tongue being so arl1"; the straps substantially above the: shoulders of the wearer and thereby press the lower jaw against the shoulder flesh of the wearer with a force discomfortable to the wearer.

The prime object of my invention broadly stated. is a lingerie clasp having spring tongue integrally formed with one of the opposing jaws thereof. and this when both of said jaws are connected integrally or by hinge.

A further object of my invention is to have the spring tongue so formed and connected with one of the jaws that the material of the tongue is adapted to operate for detachably locking together the free ends of the opposing jaws.

.inofher object of my invention is to have a spring tongue integrally connected with the upper jaw so that it will operate to vieldingly clamp the shoulder straps of lingerie against the lower jaw and in such a manner that the confined fabric will be held substant ally flat for thereby reducing to minimum the pressing force of the clasp against the flesh of the wearer.

Another object of my invention is to have the spring tongue so constructed that the end of the tongue is prevented from engaging with and injuring the fabric confined between the tongue and the jaw opposed thereto.

further object of my invention is to ranged with reference to the lower jaw as to' provide a lingerie clasp with a novel and cheaply constructed hinge connecting the opposing jaws thereof.

ll ith these ends in view, my invention finds embodiment in certain features of novelty in the construction, combination and arrangement parts by which the said oh iects are attained. all as hereinafter fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In said drawings,-

i 1 illustrates in side elevation a lingerie clasp in which my invention finds its embodiment, with dotted lines indicating the position the jaws of the clasp have when the shoulder strap or other piece of fabric is confined between the jaws,

. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the clasp of my invention, showing a spring tongue provided with means preventing its end from engaging and injuring the fabric confined therein,

Fig. 4: is a similar view of a modified form of inv invention in which the opposing jaws are hinged together by a novel form of hinge; and

Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 55 of Fig. 4:. i

Similar characters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings. I

The. outer jaw 6, inner jaw 7 and tongue 8 of the lingerie clasp in which my invention finds its embodiment, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive. are constructed from a single strip of metal cf a length, width and thickness suitable for its purpose by bending the strip upon itself on curved lines, at intervals of its length, as indicated at 9 and 10, the bend 10 being so formed that in their inoperative position the jaws 6 and 7 are normally open. lnner jaw 7 is also bent inwardly at its free endto the form of a curved hook 11, adapted to receive the curved portion 9 connecting the jaw 7 and the tongue 8 for detachably locking the opposing jaws in their closed position against the resistance of the tongue, following the compression of either jaw, to its operative position relative to the other The tongue 8 is connected with the curved portion 9 of the strip forming the male member of the detachable locking device by ing the apex of the bend from the opposing surface of the jaw in order to provide for a free endwise movement of the tongue during its initial compression, for better ad usting the surface of the fabric confined between from the jaw 7 so that there is a sliding connectionbetween these lugs .and the curved width.

the tongue and in the jaw and the otherwise tendency of the tongue to stretch and wrinkle the fabric on the inner jaw.

hen the clasp isito be used on very thin, sleazy fabrics, and there is any liability on the part of the tongue shown in Fig. 1 to catch and tear the same when compressing thejaws to their closed locked position, the tongue adjacent its free end is preferably curved, as indicated at 14, and as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, so that when pushing the jaws to their closed position, the end of the tongue will move upwardly away from the.

fabric. As shown in Fig.4, the outer aw 6 may be formed separatelyfrom the jaw 7 and connected therewith by a hinge 15 which (see Fig. 5) consists oflugs 16 bent end of the jaw 6, the curvature of the overlapping bends in the two jaws being of such a character that they are held by the lugs against accidental detachment and yet are free to move, one on the other. In this connection it is proper to note that the curved end 14 of the tongue, as shown in Fig; 4, also operates to prevent the goods from being engaged by the free end of the jaw 6.

As shown in Fig. 2, the tongue 8 is preferably considerably narrower than the width of the opposing jaws in order that the jaws Inay havethe required stiffness and that the tongue may not be too stiff, but by making the tongue thinner, it may be of the-same In this connection, it is proper to add that my invention is not limited to the exact form of the several bends adjacent the end of the tongue, notwithstanding the curvature of the clamping surface .of the tongue shown in thedrawings isthe preferable construct on therefor. I ln practice, the integral connection of the jaws and the tongue shown in Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, is-preferred, and while it is believed that a hinge connection of the construction shown is novel, my invention is not limited to the use of a hinge and includes any other form of hinge adapted as a substitute for the form shown.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A lingerie clasp, comprising a pair of opposing jaws, anda flexible tongue formed from a single strip of resilient metal, provided with a curved bend therein connecting the tongue with one of said jaws, the end of which tongue is movable to contact with said aw.

2. A lingerie clasp, comprising a pair of opposing jaws, and anzintermediate tongue formed from a single strip of resilient metal, provided with reversely curved bend-s connecting the tongue with one of said jaws, one of which bends constitutes a shifting fulcrum for said tongue. I

3. A lingerie clasp comprising a pair of jaws connectedat one end, a yielding tongue, connected with the free end of one of said jaws, longitudinally movable towards the connected ends of both jaws constructed from a folded single strip of metal, and means for detachably locking said jaws and tongue in their operative position.

4. A lingerie clasp constructed from a folded single strip ofmetal comprising a pair of aws connected at one end, a curved yielding tongue folded over the end of one of said jaws, and longitudinally movable towards the connected end ofthe o-pposing aws, and means for detachably locking said JELWS and tongue in theiroperative position.

5. A lingerie clasp constructed from a folded single strip of metal comprising a pair of jaws connected at one end, a yielding tongue, a curved connection of the tongue with the free end of one of said jaws, said tongue being longitudinally movable towards the connecti'ng'ends of both jaws, and

means for detachably locking the jaws and tongue in their operative position.

6. A lingerie clasp comprising a pair of jaws connected at one end, a longitudinally movable tongue located between said jaws and integrally connected with the free end of oneof said jaws by a reversely curved portion the opposite and free endof which tongue is bent to conform with the inner surface of the connection for the two jaws,

and means for detachably locking the free ends of said jaws in their operative position.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand andafiiX-ed my seal, this 10th day of December A. D. 1919. 1 I

FRANK w. AVES. [1..s.] 

